Early childhood centers have become a common and necessary part of millions of Americans' lives. More women in the workforce, longer workweeks, and educational research supporting the importance of early education have all contributed to the rise of early childhood centers throughout the United States. Today, more than 30 percent of children under…

Emphasizes the importance of creating culturally reflective child care environments. Describes the experiences of a design firm in creating a schematic design for the model employer-supported child care facility. Specific areas of focus include: (1) culture and architectural child care design; (2) cultural research for facility design; and (3)…

This paper, focusing on young children's need for privacy, describes a study conducted to determine the manner in which children in day care centers resolve the problem of reduced space and time for privacy. A pilot study revealed that children displayed three privacy seeking behaviors: (1) verbal and nonverbal territorial behavior (use or defense…

Excellence in design of child care and other preschool facilities is an emerging issue in the architectural profession. This bibliography is intended to aid architects and other designers, child-care directors, policy makers, and researchers to locate the most up-to-date and best sources of design-relevant information. The bibliography is based on…

Research findings demonstrate that the way the classroom environment is arranged can have important consequences on the attitudes, behavior, and achievement of students. The concept of "synomorphy" is used to examine some of the research literature available on classroom design. Synomorphy refers to the similarity of structure or shape…